1. Reflect on your current assessment practices. How have you been determining what students understand and what they are able to do?
During my classes I have been using a number/variety of assessment practices in order to determine what my students are understanding.
Asking questions/Participation - Questions are always a good way to see who understands what is going on (especially in middle school when EVERYONE wants to participate). Those who are not participating as much I know either don't feel comfortable, aren't being challenged enough, or aren't being engaged enough. No matter which one it is, there is a problem that needs to be solved.
In class activities - I always like to put my students in heterogeneous groups in order to "bring up" the lower level kids and give them a challenge. They will not learn anything if I simply place them in a group with all the "smart kids" who are going to do all the work while the others sit and watch. In order for classroom activities to be successful there much be some sort of cooperation amongst the group. I walk around and LISTEN to see if students are on the right track or if they maybe have steered off topic or away from the point.
Tests/Quizzes - Tests and quizzes are the obvious ones. You can tell how much a student knows or has studied by looking at a grade they have gotten on a test or quiz. However, if you are going to look at quizzes and tests you need to make sure as a teacher you did your job to pick out the BEST questions for that test or quiz and you chose appropriate and meaningful questions in order to assess your students properly.
Repetition - What I like to do (especially for incorporating writing in science) is to be repetitive with some of the assignments I give. I give "Nightly Readings" (3-4 in total). The first one I lead my students through, giving them lots of guidance as to how to make their summary paragraphs after reading an article aloud with them. They turned in their paragraphs and I graded them. The 2nd time I gave them less guidance, the 3rd time even less, and by the 4th time they were doing it all on their own. If I see any students are having trouble as I gradually give them more and more control then I know those are the students I need to focus on more and who need more work.
2. Describe the concept(s) that you are trying to assess in these assignments. Include a link to the appropriate GSE(s) on RIScienceTeachers. Be sure to include in your description your definition, examples of what it is, why students have difficulty with this concept, and why it is important that you teach this topic http://riscienceteachers.wikispaces.com/LS1+%289-11%29+-+1 The concepts that I am trying to assess here are:
The Periodic Table set up - I believe that students do not truly understand why the PT is set up the way that it is. Previously learning about the 25 Essential Elements in our bodies I decided to give this extension activity in order to show that the PT is not just a bunch of boxes, but an extremely synchronized and organized piece of scientific data that took years to create. It's extremely important to have a basic knowledge of the Periodic Table and how it is set up. The PT comes back again and again in all types of scientific fields (not just chemistry) and I wanted to make that connection with my students.
There are more to elements than Atomic # - Most students only know elements as their atomic # (or how large the atom is) however there is a lot more than just size to an atom (even though it is the smallest molecule on the planet). Physical/chemical properties, # of electron rings, even down to the name & symbol of an element is all FOR A REASON, not just because "thats how scientists decided to do it" (which is an extremely common misconception). I wanted to give my students a chance to understand WHAT THE SCIENTISTS WERE THINKING.
Chemistry & Biology connections - I wanted to make this chemistry connection in my biology class because a lot of students find chemistry very fun and interesting. I thought by giving them the chance to explore the periodic table (but not just the whole PT, only the 25 Essential Elements, keeping with biology) they could have a little fun in science class.
I believe it to be very important that I teach this topic because as stated above, students do not truly grasp the significance and the effort that went into creating the Periodic Table of Elements. I thought that by doing this assignment students could walk away with a greater appreciation for not only the Periodic Table but for the scientists who created it as well. Also stated above, I wanted to make a chemistry connection with the students who feel more connected to a physical science rather then biological sciences. Giving them the opportunity to explore for themselves also gave them limitless (educational) boundaries to wander.
3. (and 7) Describe an informal assessment that you selected, modified, or designed to address this concept. Summarize the instructions you gave your students and Include a link to the informal assessment here as well.
I created this assignment because a lot of students don't understand what is really happening on the Periodic Table of Elements. When a student looks at the table, he/she simply sees a bunch of boxes with numbers and letters. What I tried to do with this assignment is to go DEEPER into the periodic table and get students looking at how the table actually was set up (with a connection to biology of course!). As already stated, a lot of students just think the table is set up the way it is because thats how previous scientists decided to do it, but with my assignment I wanted them to figure out HOW these scientists decided to set it up.
Instructions - I read my rubric aloud with my students so that every student would understand how I was assessing them and what was expected of them as well. Students were then able to ask any questions they wanted about the assignment, when questions were over I modeled for them an example of a project that I ALREADY DID using the rubric myself (I chose an element that was NOT an essential element so students wouldn't feel like I already did one of the elements). I left a thing or two off (so I didn't have a perfect score) on purpose so students could see how missing just one small thing on their assignment could greatly affect their grade. Students were able to look at what I did and were encouraged to be "even more creative."
Nice idea
Design - I designed this project in a very specific way. We had just learned that there are 25 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS in our bodies that keep us alive and I wanted my students to be able to dive into these elements a little bit more. Each student was given an essential element to research. They were to come up with a mini poster (I provided them with the paper) about that element (see rubric for what info they needed). After creating their mini poster we were going to have a day in which everyone would present and teach the class about their specific element. What my students DIDN'T KNOW was that their paper color (red, yellow or blue) corresponded to the elements type (metal, non metal, gas) and after their presentation I was going to have them find their element in the Periodic Table and then put it on the board in a corresponding position. After everyone had gone, we looked up on the board to see all the yellow papers together, all the red papers together, and all the blue papers together in a very nice and organized way.
Nice
4. (and 8) Create a formal assessment. Describe this assessment, including concepts, types of items, and how it was assessed. Include a link to a copy of the assessment here as well.
6. Develop the evaluation criteria (or key) for your informal assessment or link it here. This description should include the assessment's features, how it addresses different depths of knowledge, as well as an explanation of how it addresses a scientific practice related to inquiry.
Assessment Features - I believe that their are many different features and factors that students had to put into this project in order to truly succeed at this assignment. They were not just drawing an element, but diving into what their drawing actually meant in terms of physical/chemical properties, name and symbol, and how that element is used in the body (to help us survive). Along with creating the mini poster, there was also a presentation factor to the activity so students got some practice with public speaking, in addition the presentation was also a part of the grade so students HAD to put in effort to their presentation in order to receive the appropriate amount of points. A 3rd (and final fun factor) I decided to add was an extra credit portion where students could find a "fun fact" about their element. This fun fact would hopefully keep the connection with them for a longer time, so that every time they heard their elements name they thought back to this assignment, "Oh yeah, I remember learning the fun fact about that element in class." And the good thing about the "fun fact" was that everyone got to hear about every elements fun fact, because chances are most students would put in a little extra effort in order to find the fact and get the extra point.
DOK - I believe my assignment hits a lot of the depths of knowledge, from recall/remember to strategic thinking. I think this assignment went a little bit further because it was an extension activity of what students were learning about. I very easily could have left this out and never put in the time or effort to create it, but I wanted my students to see a little more then just the site of the Periodic Table. Students knew their elements structure but what they didn't know was how it related to the physical/chemical properties and to the Periodic Table. This activity had them recall what they previously learned to apply that information to a new situation (a chemistry situation) that required a little more effort and thinking. An elements structure had to do with its properties, since these elements are all used in our bodies students had to relate the physical/chemical properties to the role it played in our bodies. Making those important connections is what keeps information with kids longer then if you simply told them yourself in a discussion. Students are also creating something from all this new information, not just learning it and when you have students "creating" there is more learning going on.
How did students go beyond looking up information about their element in an encyclopedia?
Scientific Inquiry - I believe that this was an open ended project that gave students a lot of leigh (??) way. I trusted them to find appropriate and trustworthy information about their element (and to csite those sources) and they did just that. I believe this assignment also gave students a first hand look at how chemists decided upon the periodic table (especially when they saw all their papers in perfect order on the board) which was kind of like an "Ah-ha! moment" for them. Giving them the chance to see how/why the PT was created also gave rise to questions and comments that they would have never thought of had we not done this activity, "Why are the gases on the right?", "What exactly are non-metals?", "Does anyone else notice that the atomic #'s are in order also?!" So when it comes to this assignment and scientific inquiry, I think I got just what I wanted, I wanted to facilitate an active learning environment where students make connections and get excited about the work they've done.
What did you want students to know about how the PT was organized? Did you ask them to reflect on their "a-ha" moment so that you could get an idea of what they understood at that point?
7. & 8. - Already addressed above.
9. For your informal assesssment, upload scans of the work of three or four students. The work of each student should be on a different page. At the bottom of each students' page, you should describe the level of student understanding, e.g. high, average, or low, and describe how this is indicated in their answers. An example of how to do this is here. Note: Remember to name the pages you create carefully, e.g. "Smith S10 - High Performing" instead of "High-Performing."
10 For you formal assessment, describe how you think it addressed the concepts you were trying to assess? How did you modify the assessment to address learning differences or special needs?
There were a few concepts that I was trying to teach my students. One of which was the concept of bonding between atoms. Most atoms have the ability to bond with another atom of the same or different type. When two atoms come together they either share electrons or gain/lose them, this is the MAJOR difference between covalent and ionic bonding. Covalent bonding is when atoms share electrons, during ionic bonding atoms gain/lose electrons, then the difference in charges attracts the two atoms together. I believe that my formal assessment address this concept in a number of ways. There were a few multiple choice questions that pertained to the topic but the real question that addressed this was short answer #21. Sodium and Chlorine was an example of ionic bonding that we had done in class and a perfect example of ionic bonding. In order to answer this question students had to recognize the number of electrons in each atoms outer shell (I gave them the atomic #'s) and from there determine that it would be easier for the atoms to gain/lose electrons then share them (which is what we learned in class).
A second concept I was trying to show my students was the theory of diffusion and the random movement of particles. Atoms/particles move in randomly (Brownian Motion) and when given the chance will diffuse from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration in order to maintain equilibrium. Students had a multitude of activities in which we diagramed this and I was hoping the test would prove that they understood this concept fully. On top of multiple choice/fill in questions, the final two short answers (# 23) related to diffusion and Brownian Motion. In this question students needed to think critically in order to figure out that the abundance of particles in the perfume bottle would "randomly move" out of the bottle through diffusion and into the classroom, eventually reaching the teacher at the front of the room.
A third and final concept that I was trying to make sure my students understood was the importance of water and its properties. We have discussed that water is one of the most IMPORTANT substances, not only for life, but for experimentation as well. Through experimentation we learned that water is the "universal solvent" and can dissolve many different compounds due to its polarity. Students had to discuss the importance of waters polarity in short answer question #22. Mentioning water as a universal solvent, discussing out compounds like salt/sugar break down in water were all ways they could approach answering this question.
There were no modifications for this test because I did not have students with disabilities in my classroom. However, I did make 2 different versions of the test to reduce the opportunity for cheating.
III. Analysis / Reflection
11. Use both the informal and formal assessments to describe what you learned about what your students understand about these concepts. Use specific examples from both the informal and formal assessment to illustrate your points. What can your students do now that they could not before, and what do they still need to learn?
I would say that there were concepts that my students grasped very well, and some concepts that they definitely could have understood better. Concepts my students understood well would be diffusion, structure of an atom, and the actual idea of ionic/covalent bonding (but not the concept). During the Periodic Table Activity my students demonstrated to me that they knew the structure of elements. Each element has its own atomic # and therefore, its own unique atomic structure. Students drawings of their elements were above standard and told me that they truly knew where each part of an atom was located. My students also understood diffusion and brownian motion very well. Most answers to the short answer question #23 on the quiz mentioned something about diffusion or brownian motion as a way for the particles to move from the back of the room all the way to the front.
What I learned about the concept of ionic/covalent bonding through the short answer question (#21) on the quiz surprised me though. A lot of students got this answer wrong, however, it wasn't for a lack of knowledge on how atoms bond but rather they simply thought the two atoms would covalently bond. Those who said "ionic bonding" (which is the correct answer) explained it perfectly, those who said "covalent bonding" (which is the wrong answer) also explained covalent bonding perfectly. It was very interesting to see how a lot of my students were explaining covalent bonding correctly, but giving a wrong answer. It was because of this that I ended up giving students who explained covalent bonding in a correct and appropriate way points for the question. I realized that I must have missed the target when I was teaching my students WHY atoms would ionically bond rather then covalently bond.
What my students can do now is be able to actually take an Atomic # and from that create the proper atom with proper structure (electron rings, protons/neutrons in nucleus, etc). They also know how these molecules can bond (covalently/ionically) HOWEVER, they do still need to learn WHY certain molecules ionically bond rather then covalently bond. This is something I can easily work on for my future plans as an educator.
12. OMIT
13. For your formal assessment only, select one student characteristic, e.g. ability, gender, age, etc) and compare the relative performance of each group. Hint: Use box and whiskers plots to compare the two groups. What do you conclude from this comparison? Why?
I am comparing ability level between my two honors classes and my one CP class who took this quiz. The maximum points allotted for this quiz was 25 points.
Honors Period 1 (25 students):
Low Score - 11
Mean Score - 19.6
High Score - 24
Honors Period 4 (28 students):
Low Score - 13.5
Mean Score - 20.6
High Score - 25
College Prep (23 students):
Low Score - 7.5
Mean Score - 13.6
High Score - 19
By comparing ability level of the classes you can see that the honors students did better then the college prep level students. Honors students are in "honors" because they show and have proven themselves to be of a high cognitive level and can understand difficult concepts easier then an "average" student could. Only 1 student out of ALL of the honors students (53) scored below 15 points on the quiz while there were 5 CP students (out of 23) who scored below a 10 on the quiz. From the information given you can tell that the two honors classes were at about the same mean score which makes sense, while the CP class fell behind a good 7 points in their classes mean score. Overall we can conclude that the two honors classes (whose scores were slightly different) understood and could apply the information about Atoms & Their Interactions better then the CP students.
14. Describe any ways in which you invovled students in self-assessment. How did you communicate what you learned from your informal and formal assessments to your students? What did they do with this information?
I absolutely involved my students in self-assessment. I gave them their rubric for the PTA activity the first day I introduced the activity and gave them the chance to look over and review it, ask me any questions, or make any comments. I told them that by using this rubric you could practice you presentation at home and make sure that your poster has all the necessary requirements in order to achieve the highest grade. Students were allowed to grade themselves if they were not satisfied with the grade that I gave them they were allowed to come up to me at a later date and discuss why they thought they deserved a higher grade and what they graded themselves in each category. I believe that if you give students the opportunity to grade themselves they will do it honestly (not just give themselves the perfect score) and they can see what their project/presentation requires further in order to get a better grade. Self-assessment is extremely important especially at the high school level because it gives students the opportunity to be "responsible for their own learning."
15: Most Important: Compare your objectives for student learning (both in terms of science concepts and practices) to the student learning you observed. What did you learn about your teaching based on the student performances? What will you do differently next time? Why would you make these changes? What, if anything, will you do to improve the assessment instruments?
What I learned about my teaching based on my students performances was that I know my content very well. I understand concepts and work very hard to make sure that my students understand them as well. I had a variety of activities and teaching strategies that I utilized in order to further increase the high achievement level in my classroom and understood that it takes more then just someone who "knows their content" to be a good teacher. I really did try very hard to relate things as much as I could to students and their everyday lives (which is why I had them using the 25 Essential Elements in their PTA activities) so they could make connections and find importance in the information they were learning about.
What I would do differently next time would be to go over WHY atoms would bond a certain way (covalently or ionically). What I found out after my assessment was that my students understood the two different ways in which atoms bond and HOW they form those bonds, however when it came to WHY an atom would bond one way over another, they were unable to make that connection.
What I would do to improve my assessments would be to add in that students are not allowed to use wikipedia as a "source site" in making their PTA activity. I had forgotten (or didn't think students would actually use it) to put that in the directions of the PTA activity. Since there was no restrictions with website use, students went a little overboard with using and siting "non-credible" sites. Most of students inaccuracies came from the websites which were not "science geared" (ie - wikipedia/google).
Instead of concluding that you know your content well, why not take a reflective stance and examine your own knowledge around the concepts your students struggled with. What your students understand is a direct result of what you explained well. For example, how do atoms 'decide' how they will bond to each other? How much detail about this do bio students need? What is the point of distinguishing between the types of bonds anyway? These are the types of questions that will lead you to strengthen your teaching by causing you to do more investigating yourself.
Formal and Informal Assessment of Student Learning
Name: Mickey Ennis
I. Assignment Description/Requirements
II. Preparation / Development
1. Reflect on your current assessment practices. How have you been determining what students understand and what they are able to do?
During my classes I have been using a number/variety of assessment practices in order to determine what my students are understanding.
2. Describe the concept(s) that you are trying to assess in these assignments. Include a link to the appropriate GSE(s) on RIScienceTeachers. Be sure to include in your description your definition, examples of what it is, why students have difficulty with this concept, and why it is important that you teach this topic
http://riscienceteachers.wikispaces.com/LS1+%289-11%29+-+1
The concepts that I am trying to assess here are:
- The Periodic Table set up - I believe that students do not truly understand why the PT is set up the way that it is. Previously learning about the 25 Essential Elements in our bodies I decided to give this extension activity in order to show that the PT is not just a bunch of boxes, but an extremely synchronized and organized piece of scientific data that took years to create. It's extremely important to have a basic knowledge of the Periodic Table and how it is set up. The PT comes back again and again in all types of scientific fields (not just chemistry) and I wanted to make that connection with my students.
- There are more to elements than Atomic # - Most students only know elements as their atomic # (or how large the atom is) however there is a lot more than just size to an atom (even though it is the smallest molecule on the planet). Physical/chemical properties, # of electron rings, even down to the name & symbol of an element is all FOR A REASON, not just because "thats how scientists decided to do it" (which is an extremely common misconception). I wanted to give my students a chance to understand WHAT THE SCIENTISTS WERE THINKING.
- Chemistry & Biology connections - I wanted to make this chemistry connection in my biology class because a lot of students find chemistry very fun and interesting. I thought by giving them the chance to explore the periodic table (but not just the whole PT, only the 25 Essential Elements, keeping with biology) they could have a little fun in science class.
I believe it to be very important that I teach this topic because as stated above, students do not truly grasp the significance and the effort that went into creating the Periodic Table of Elements. I thought that by doing this assignment students could walk away with a greater appreciation for not only the Periodic Table but for the scientists who created it as well. Also stated above, I wanted to make a chemistry connection with the students who feel more connected to a physical science rather then biological sciences. Giving them the opportunity to explore for themselves also gave them limitless (educational) boundaries to wander.3. (and 7) Describe an informal assessment that you selected, modified, or designed to address this concept. Summarize the instructions you gave your students and Include a link to the informal assessment here as well.
I created this assignment because a lot of students don't understand what is really happening on the Periodic Table of Elements. When a student looks at the table, he/she simply sees a bunch of boxes with numbers and letters. What I tried to do with this assignment is to go DEEPER into the periodic table and get students looking at how the table actually was set up (with a connection to biology of course!). As already stated, a lot of students just think the table is set up the way it is because thats how previous scientists decided to do it, but with my assignment I wanted them to figure out HOW these scientists decided to set it up.
Instructions - I read my rubric aloud with my students so that every student would understand how I was assessing them and what was expected of them as well. Students were then able to ask any questions they wanted about the assignment, when questions were over I modeled for them an example of a project that I ALREADY DID using the rubric myself (I chose an element that was NOT an essential element so students wouldn't feel like I already did one of the elements). I left a thing or two off (so I didn't have a perfect score) on purpose so students could see how missing just one small thing on their assignment could greatly affect their grade. Students were able to look at what I did and were encouraged to be "even more creative."
Nice idea
Design - I designed this project in a very specific way. We had just learned that there are 25 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS in our bodies that keep us alive and I wanted my students to be able to dive into these elements a little bit more. Each student was given an essential element to research. They were to come up with a mini poster (I provided them with the paper) about that element (see rubric for what info they needed). After creating their mini poster we were going to have a day in which everyone would present and teach the class about their specific element. What my students DIDN'T KNOW was that their paper color (red, yellow or blue) corresponded to the elements type (metal, non metal, gas) and after their presentation I was going to have them find their element in the Periodic Table and then put it on the board in a corresponding position. After everyone had gone, we looked up on the board to see all the yellow papers together, all the red papers together, and all the blue papers together in a very nice and organized way.
Nice
4. (and 8) Create a formal assessment. Describe this assessment, including concepts, types of items, and how it was assessed. Include a link to a copy of the assessment here as well.
CHAPTER 6 QUIZ
For this formal assessment I chose to give my students a quiz on Chapter 6 - Atoms & Their Interactions.
Types of Questions:
- Multiple Choice
- Fill in the blank
- Short Answer
Concepts included in assessment:5. Develop the evaluation criteria (or key) for your formal assessment or link it here.
Grading Evaluation - answer key
6. Develop the evaluation criteria (or key) for your informal assessment or link it here. This description should include the assessment's features, how it addresses different depths of knowledge, as well as an explanation of how it addresses a scientific practice related to inquiry.
Assessment Features - I believe that their are many different features and factors that students had to put into this project in order to truly succeed at this assignment. They were not just drawing an element, but diving into what their drawing actually meant in terms of physical/chemical properties, name and symbol, and how that element is used in the body (to help us survive). Along with creating the mini poster, there was also a presentation factor to the activity so students got some practice with public speaking, in addition the presentation was also a part of the grade so students HAD to put in effort to their presentation in order to receive the appropriate amount of points. A 3rd (and final fun factor) I decided to add was an extra credit portion where students could find a "fun fact" about their element. This fun fact would hopefully keep the connection with them for a longer time, so that every time they heard their elements name they thought back to this assignment, "Oh yeah, I remember learning the fun fact about that element in class." And the good thing about the "fun fact" was that everyone got to hear about every elements fun fact, because chances are most students would put in a little extra effort in order to find the fact and get the extra point.
DOK - I believe my assignment hits a lot of the depths of knowledge, from recall/remember to strategic thinking. I think this assignment went a little bit further because it was an extension activity of what students were learning about. I very easily could have left this out and never put in the time or effort to create it, but I wanted my students to see a little more then just the site of the Periodic Table. Students knew their elements structure but what they didn't know was how it related to the physical/chemical properties and to the Periodic Table. This activity had them recall what they previously learned to apply that information to a new situation (a chemistry situation) that required a little more effort and thinking. An elements structure had to do with its properties, since these elements are all used in our bodies students had to relate the physical/chemical properties to the role it played in our bodies. Making those important connections is what keeps information with kids longer then if you simply told them yourself in a discussion. Students are also creating something from all this new information, not just learning it and when you have students "creating" there is more learning going on.
How did students go beyond looking up information about their element in an encyclopedia?
Scientific Inquiry - I believe that this was an open ended project that gave students a lot of leigh (??) way. I trusted them to find appropriate and trustworthy information about their element (and to csite those sources) and they did just that. I believe this assignment also gave students a first hand look at how chemists decided upon the periodic table (especially when they saw all their papers in perfect order on the board) which was kind of like an "Ah-ha! moment" for them. Giving them the chance to see how/why the PT was created also gave rise to questions and comments that they would have never thought of had we not done this activity, "Why are the gases on the right?", "What exactly are non-metals?", "Does anyone else notice that the atomic #'s are in order also?!" So when it comes to this assignment and scientific inquiry, I think I got just what I wanted, I wanted to facilitate an active learning environment where students make connections and get excited about the work they've done.
What did you want students to know about how the PT was organized? Did you ask them to reflect on their "a-ha" moment so that you could get an idea of what they understood at that point?
7. & 8. - Already addressed above.
9. For your informal assesssment, upload scans of the work of three or four students. The work of each student should be on a different page. At the bottom of each students' page, you should describe the level of student understanding, e.g. high, average, or low, and describe how this is indicated in their answers. An example of how to do this is here. Note: Remember to name the pages you create carefully, e.g. "Smith S10 - High Performing" instead of "High-Performing."
High Performing
Medium Performing
Low Performing
10 For you formal assessment, describe how you think it addressed the concepts you were trying to assess? How did you modify the assessment to address learning differences or special needs?
There were a few concepts that I was trying to teach my students. One of which was the concept of bonding between atoms. Most atoms have the ability to bond with another atom of the same or different type. When two atoms come together they either share electrons or gain/lose them, this is the MAJOR difference between covalent and ionic bonding. Covalent bonding is when atoms share electrons, during ionic bonding atoms gain/lose electrons, then the difference in charges attracts the two atoms together. I believe that my formal assessment address this concept in a number of ways. There were a few multiple choice questions that pertained to the topic but the real question that addressed this was short answer #21. Sodium and Chlorine was an example of ionic bonding that we had done in class and a perfect example of ionic bonding. In order to answer this question students had to recognize the number of electrons in each atoms outer shell (I gave them the atomic #'s) and from there determine that it would be easier for the atoms to gain/lose electrons then share them (which is what we learned in class).
A second concept I was trying to show my students was the theory of diffusion and the random movement of particles. Atoms/particles move in randomly (Brownian Motion) and when given the chance will diffuse from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration in order to maintain equilibrium. Students had a multitude of activities in which we diagramed this and I was hoping the test would prove that they understood this concept fully. On top of multiple choice/fill in questions, the final two short answers (# 23) related to diffusion and Brownian Motion. In this question students needed to think critically in order to figure out that the abundance of particles in the perfume bottle would "randomly move" out of the bottle through diffusion and into the classroom, eventually reaching the teacher at the front of the room.
A third and final concept that I was trying to make sure my students understood was the importance of water and its properties. We have discussed that water is one of the most IMPORTANT substances, not only for life, but for experimentation as well. Through experimentation we learned that water is the "universal solvent" and can dissolve many different compounds due to its polarity. Students had to discuss the importance of waters polarity in short answer question #22. Mentioning water as a universal solvent, discussing out compounds like salt/sugar break down in water were all ways they could approach answering this question.
There were no modifications for this test because I did not have students with disabilities in my classroom. However, I did make 2 different versions of the test to reduce the opportunity for cheating.
III. Analysis / Reflection
11. Use both the informal and formal assessments to describe what you learned about what your students understand about these concepts. Use specific examples from both the informal and formal assessment to illustrate your points. What can your students do now that they could not before, and what do they still need to learn?
I would say that there were concepts that my students grasped very well, and some concepts that they definitely could have understood better. Concepts my students understood well would be diffusion, structure of an atom, and the actual idea of ionic/covalent bonding (but not the concept). During the Periodic Table Activity my students demonstrated to me that they knew the structure of elements. Each element has its own atomic # and therefore, its own unique atomic structure. Students drawings of their elements were above standard and told me that they truly knew where each part of an atom was located. My students also understood diffusion and brownian motion very well. Most answers to the short answer question #23 on the quiz mentioned something about diffusion or brownian motion as a way for the particles to move from the back of the room all the way to the front.
What I learned about the concept of ionic/covalent bonding through the short answer question (#21) on the quiz surprised me though. A lot of students got this answer wrong, however, it wasn't for a lack of knowledge on how atoms bond but rather they simply thought the two atoms would covalently bond. Those who said "ionic bonding" (which is the correct answer) explained it perfectly, those who said "covalent bonding" (which is the wrong answer) also explained covalent bonding perfectly. It was very interesting to see how a lot of my students were explaining covalent bonding correctly, but giving a wrong answer. It was because of this that I ended up giving students who explained covalent bonding in a correct and appropriate way points for the question. I realized that I must have missed the target when I was teaching my students WHY atoms would ionically bond rather then covalently bond.
What my students can do now is be able to actually take an Atomic # and from that create the proper atom with proper structure (electron rings, protons/neutrons in nucleus, etc). They also know how these molecules can bond (covalently/ionically) HOWEVER, they do still need to learn WHY certain molecules ionically bond rather then covalently bond. This is something I can easily work on for my future plans as an educator.
12. OMIT
13. For your formal assessment only, select one student characteristic, e.g. ability, gender, age, etc) and compare the relative performance of each group. Hint: Use box and whiskers plots to compare the two groups. What do you conclude from this comparison? Why?
I am comparing ability level between my two honors classes and my one CP class who took this quiz. The maximum points allotted for this quiz was 25 points.
Honors Period 1 (25 students):
- Low Score - 11
- Mean Score - 19.6
- High Score - 24
Honors Period 4 (28 students):- Low Score - 13.5
- Mean Score - 20.6
- High Score - 25
College Prep (23 students):By comparing ability level of the classes you can see that the honors students did better then the college prep level students. Honors students are in "honors" because they show and have proven themselves to be of a high cognitive level and can understand difficult concepts easier then an "average" student could. Only 1 student out of ALL of the honors students (53) scored below 15 points on the quiz while there were 5 CP students (out of 23) who scored below a 10 on the quiz. From the information given you can tell that the two honors classes were at about the same mean score which makes sense, while the CP class fell behind a good 7 points in their classes mean score. Overall we can conclude that the two honors classes (whose scores were slightly different) understood and could apply the information about Atoms & Their Interactions better then the CP students.
14. Describe any ways in which you invovled students in self-assessment. How did you communicate what you learned from your informal and formal assessments to your students? What did they do with this information?
I absolutely involved my students in self-assessment. I gave them their rubric for the PTA activity the first day I introduced the activity and gave them the chance to look over and review it, ask me any questions, or make any comments. I told them that by using this rubric you could practice you presentation at home and make sure that your poster has all the necessary requirements in order to achieve the highest grade. Students were allowed to grade themselves if they were not satisfied with the grade that I gave them they were allowed to come up to me at a later date and discuss why they thought they deserved a higher grade and what they graded themselves in each category. I believe that if you give students the opportunity to grade themselves they will do it honestly (not just give themselves the perfect score) and they can see what their project/presentation requires further in order to get a better grade. Self-assessment is extremely important especially at the high school level because it gives students the opportunity to be "responsible for their own learning."
15: Most Important: Compare your objectives for student learning (both in terms of science concepts and practices) to the student learning you observed. What did you learn about your teaching based on the student performances? What will you do differently next time? Why would you make these changes? What, if anything, will you do to improve the assessment instruments?
What I learned about my teaching based on my students performances was that I know my content very well. I understand concepts and work very hard to make sure that my students understand them as well. I had a variety of activities and teaching strategies that I utilized in order to further increase the high achievement level in my classroom and understood that it takes more then just someone who "knows their content" to be a good teacher. I really did try very hard to relate things as much as I could to students and their everyday lives (which is why I had them using the 25 Essential Elements in their PTA activities) so they could make connections and find importance in the information they were learning about.
What I would do differently next time would be to go over WHY atoms would bond a certain way (covalently or ionically). What I found out after my assessment was that my students understood the two different ways in which atoms bond and HOW they form those bonds, however when it came to WHY an atom would bond one way over another, they were unable to make that connection.
What I would do to improve my assessments would be to add in that students are not allowed to use wikipedia as a "source site" in making their PTA activity. I had forgotten (or didn't think students would actually use it) to put that in the directions of the PTA activity. Since there was no restrictions with website use, students went a little overboard with using and siting "non-credible" sites. Most of students inaccuracies came from the websites which were not "science geared" (ie - wikipedia/google).
Instead of concluding that you know your content well, why not take a reflective stance and examine your own knowledge around the concepts your students struggled with. What your students understand is a direct result of what you explained well. For example, how do atoms 'decide' how they will bond to each other? How much detail about this do bio students need? What is the point of distinguishing between the types of bonds anyway? These are the types of questions that will lead you to strengthen your teaching by causing you to do more investigating yourself.